Without any territory laws which specifically targeted them, the gangs recognised the national capital as an ideal place to gather and ride en masse, wearing colours and patches, safe in the knowledge as long as they remained within the borders and committed no offences, they were free from harassment.

The debate has raged fiercely about the validity of consorting laws and their effectiveness since 2012, with the ACT Liberals twice proposing similar legislation to NSW and the Labor-Greens government using their numbers to defeat it.

There were even accusations in the ACT Assembly that the Liberals were "scaremongering" on the issue and seeking to use it for political capital.

Now, as could be expected, Canberra has become a national Rebel hub for the weekend, with all the uncertainty that holds.

Because it simply couldn't happen anywhere else. Just over the border in NSW, police - including a large cohort of officers attached to the specialist Strike Force Raptor South - have already moved on dozens of gang members as they have begun their approach to the "safe haven".

Police stop points were set up at Pheasants Nest and near Goulburn along the Hume Highway, with another one at Cooma.

Everywhere but the ACT, a massed gathering such as this would be illegal.

But there are also legitimate concerns about blanket consorting laws disproportionately capturing vulnerable people as well as intended criminal groups.

A report on NSW consorting laws found nearly half of all people who received a warning or were named in a warning from general duties officers between 2019 and 2022 in the state were Aboriginal.

This has no doubt sensibly factored into the failed introduction of such laws in the ACT, where an Aboriginal person is 24.6 times more likely to be imprisoned than a non-Indigenous person.

What's clear is the territory cannot continue existing as an island surrounded by the starkly different laws of our neighbouring state. Gang members smuggling their bikes into the ACT in covered trucks, to avoid run-ins with NSW police, and instead flying or travelling here by car, is a deeply troubling example of how the status quo is not working.

Territory politicians need to find a way to stop our side of the border being such an attractive destination. And they must do it without entangling our already vulnerable citizens. This weekend is a wake-up call and Canberrans are quite rightly watching on with concern.